Brazil lifts Zika virus health emergency after sharp decline in cases

The country had declared the Zika outbreak an emergency in November 2015.

Brazil announced the end of its public health emergency on 11 May, which was declared after Zika virus outbreak in the country more than a year ago. Authorities stated a sharp decline in the number of cases was the basis for lifting the emergency.

However, health officials assured that the end of emergency "doesn't mean the end of surveillance or assistance" to the affected families.

"The Health Ministry and other organisations involved in this area will maintain a policy of fighting Zika, dengue and chikungunya," said Adeilson Cavalcante, the secretary for health surveillance at Brazil's Health Ministry.

The virus spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito was found to cause severe birth defects, including microcephaly, where children are born with a brain much smaller than the usual size. Images of children affected by the condition caused panic across the world.

Brazil had declared the public health emergency in November 2015, under which it launched a massive drive to end the spread of the virus. In February 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) also declared the outbreak an international health emergency, after its rapid spread to other parts of the Americas.

Brazil has lifted the Zika health emergency that was declared in November 2015 following a massive outbreak of the virus, which caused severe birth defects in children - File photoReuters